Donald L. Blount
Mr. Donald L. Blount founded Donald L. Blount & Associates, a naval architecture
and marine engineering design firm in 1988. The company is noted internationally for design and engineering of high-performance, military, commercial, and recreational vessels. Noteworthy vessels exceeding speeds of 60 knots include gasturbine- powered
vessels M/Y Destriero (222 ft, 1,000 mt), which established in 1992 the current Atlantic Ocean crossing record (58 hr 34 min) averaging 53.1 knots, and M/Y Fortuna (135 ft), the Royal Yacht of Spain. Previously Mr. Blount was a civilian employee of
the Department of Navy for 35 years. In his early years with the Navy, he conducted research and engineering programs relating to technology in the field of hydrodynamics. The latter years were spent with the Navy’s Combatant Craft Department
conducting research, designing, and testing military craft with the last nine years as Department Head. In 2014 Mr. Blount published a book, Performance by Design: Hydrodynamics for High-Speed Vessels and has co-authored more than 50 papers and articles
for international technical societies. Mr. Blount is a professional engineer and a Fellow of both The Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and The Royal Institution of Naval Architects. He earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering
from GW in 1963.
Gene Colabatistto
Mr. Gene Colabatistto has more than 25 years of experience in the global defense
industry, and has held leadership positions in both the military and private sector. As president of defense and security at CAE, a global leader in immersive, integrated training systems, Mr. Colabatistto manages over 2,500 employees in 30 countries.
In 2014, CAE was recognized by Canadian Defence Review as Canada’s number one defense company. Previously, he held senior management positions at SAIC, Space Imaging, SPOT Image, and Veridian. Mr. Colabatistto also served in the United States
Marine Corps as representative for intelligence systems and satellite and airborne reconnaissance during Desert Storm. His career has been dedicated to the innovative application of space, airborne, and intelligence technologies to issues related
to national security. He has been recognized by the Director of Central Intelligence, Director of the National Reconnaissance Office, Secretary of the Navy, and the Commandant of the Marine Corps for “Significant Intelligence Successes”
and Meritorious Service. Mr. Colabatistto was recently recognized in January 2015 by GovCon Exec as one the Top 100 most influential executives in Washington. Mr. Colabatistto is a commercial pilot and has served as an Angel Flight and Homeland Security/First
Responder pilot. He is a 1996 alumnus of GW with a Master of Science in electrical engineering. Prior to that, he received a Bachelor of Science in aerospace engineering and a Master of Science in systems management from University of Southern California.
Elizabeth D’Andrea
Dr. Elizabeth D’Andrea is a senior scientist with more than 38 years in government
service focused on weapons development and science and technology. In her years of service, Dr. D’Andrea was responsible for the development of the Navy’s Railgun as well as numerous technologies focused on terrorism and drug interdiction.
She has worked for NASA, the departments of the Army, Air Force, and Navy, and has directly supported the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the White House. Her recent accomplishments include critical technologies that have been applied to advanced
engineering, science, physics, and materials for Department of Defense capabilities. Dr. D’Andrea has successfully transitioned multiple technologies into programs of record and has established technical consortiums to create innovative solutions.
Her numerous recognitions include three Navy Superior Civilian Awards, the Navy Meritorious Civilian Award, the Langley Air Force Base Woman of the Year Award, and two Army Special Service Awards. Additionally, the Republic of Colombia, South America,
recognized her with the Colombian Air Force Meritorious Service Cross. Dr. D’Andrea received a Bachelor of Science in quantitative methods in 1976 from Old Dominion University, a Master of Science in systems engineering in 1984 from Florida
Institute of Technology, and a Doctorate of Science in engineering management in 2006 from GW
Kevin Kelly
Mr. Kevin Kelly is chief executive officer of LGS Innovations, a privately held independent
technology company with strong ties to the defense and intelligence markets in the United States. Mr. Kelly oversees the development and implementation of the company’s strategy and the overall performance of the entire company. Mr. Kelly brings
more than 20 years of experience to LGS in the areas of research, engineering, strategic planning, and organization leadership. Previous positions in LGS were as the company’s chief operating officer and senior vice president of strategy. In
these roles, he oversaw the company’s foundation as a wholly owned subsidiary of Alcatel-Lucent in 2007, and eventually led the efforts to partner with Madison-Dearborn and CoVant to purchase the company and migrate it to become an independent
portion of Madison-Dearborn’s portfolio. Prior to Mr. Kelly’s 15-year history with LGS Innovations, he held senior positions within General Dynamics’ Advanced Information Systems (GD-AIS) and Lockheed Martin. Mr. Kelly received a
Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from Penn State in 1993 and a Master of Science in engineering management from GW in 1997.
Ronald R. Luman
Dr. Ronald R. Luman is chief of staff of the Johns Hopkins University (JHU) Applied Physics
Laboratory. He manages the laboratory’s strategic decision agenda, guides laboratory policies and operations, and aligns annual investment resources to strategic objectives through a collaborative executive management process. Dr. Luman’s
technical leadership roles have spanned undersea and missile guidance systems, ballistic missile defense, and intelligence systems architectures, with special assignments at the U.S. submarine force headquarters in Pearl Harbor, the Office of Naval
Research, the Missile Defense Agency, and the National Security Agency. As the Systems Engineering Program Chair in the JHU Whiting School of Engineering, Dr. Luman oversees the largest systems engineering master’s program in the nation with
more than 1,000 students and 125 adjunct faculty members, featuring industry cohort partnerships and worldwide online course delivery. Dr. Luman is a member of the National Research Council’s Naval Studies Board, where he has addressed strategies
for mainstreaming unmanned undersea vehicles into global naval operations, the role of naval forces in the war on terror, and the effects of climate change on national security. He received his Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from Middlebury College
in 1976, a Master of Science in applied mathematics from Michigan State University in 1978, a Master of Science in technical management from Johns Hopkins University in 1986, and a Doctorate of Science in systems engineering from GW in 1998.
Patrick Marolda
Mr. Patrick Marolda is currently the chief operating officer for Rolls-Royce’s Defence
Division. There he has oversight and execution over all operational budgets and team performance metrics. He is responsible for developing and executing integrated departmental plans, policies, and procedures and driving improved quality, delivery,
cost, and operating efficiency in all defence global operations. Mr. Marolda joined Rolls-Royce as president of Rolls-Royce Naval Marine Inc. in 2002 and has since held increasingly senior roles in the marine and aerospace businesses. His prior position
was chief operating officer for Rolls-Royce Marine where he was responsible for all global marine operations and was headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Prior to joining Rolls-Royce, Mr. Marolda was president of Kidde Fenwal Safety Systems, the world’s
leader in providing eutectic overheat sensors to the aerospace market. Before that, he spent 20 years with General Electric (GE) in its Power Systems and Energy Divisions. Mr. Marolda received a Master of Science in engineering administration from
GW in 1986. Upon graduation in 1980 from the New York Maritime College with a Marine Engineering degree, he joined the Military Sealift Command as a Third Assistant Engineer aboard the USNS Marias (TAO-57).
Christopher J. Scolese
Mr. Christopher J. Scolese is the director of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight
Center, a role he assumed in March 2012. He previously served at NASA as associate administrator, one of the agency’s highestranking civil servant positions, at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. There Mr. Scolese was responsible for the oversight
and integration of NASA’s programmatic and technical efforts to ensure the successful accomplishment of the agency’s overall mission. From January 2009 until July 2009, Mr. Scolese served as NASA’s acting administrator where he was
responsible for leading the development, design, and implementation of the nation’s civil space program. Previously, Mr. Scolese served as NASA’s Chief Engineer, Deputy Director of the Goddard Space Flight Center, Deputy Associate Administrator
in the Office of Space Science at NASA Headquarters, Earth Orbiting Satellite (EOS) Program Manager, and the Deputy Director of Flight Programs and Projects for Earth Science at Goddard. He was selected by Admiral Hyman Rickover to serve at Naval
Reactors, where he was associated with the development of instrumentation, instrument systems, and multi-processor systems for the U.S. Navy and the Department of Energy while working for Naval Sea Systems Command. Mr. Scolese is the recipient of
several honors, including the Presidential Rank Award of Meritorious Executive, the NASA Distinguished Leadership Medal, Goddard Outstanding Leadership, two NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals, and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
(AIAA) National Capital Section Young Engineer/Scientist of the Year Award. He is a Fellow of the AIAA and a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. Mr. Scolese received his Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering from
The State University of New York in 1978 and his Master of Science in System Science, Networks and Controls in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at GW in 1982. He also received an honorary doctorate degree from the University
of Buffalo in 2015.
